BACKGROUND: NextEra Energy Resources announced that it will build a wind farm near Lake Ashtabula in Griggs and Steele Counties in east central North Dakota. It is expected that the facility will have a maximum power capacity of 169.5 MW of electricity. The project will create 150 construction jobs and approximately 10 permanent jobs.

As part of the overall facility, a smaller 49.5 megawatt wind farm has been proposed by Otter Tail Power Company. This sub-project became operational in September 2009. The 49.5 MW project is comprised of 33 wind turbines. Otter Tail Power Company also built and owns a 13-mile 230-kilovolt generation outlet needed to transmit the electricity to the Pillsbury Substation. The other half of the wind farm is an 80 turbine farm known as the South Farm located in southwestern Steele County, stretching a short distance into Griggs County. The site wascompleted and entered commercial operation in October of 2009.

Local residents have raised concerns about noise and possible health effects from the wind turbines. NextEra Energy maintains that an analysis by a consultant concludes that the project’s turbines would comply with federal noise standards.